Mindy Park, Space Paparazzi
by Londerland
Summary: Mindy Park was just a twenty-something engineer in a dead-end job, and a dull, boring life. Mark Watney changes her life. She's still deciding if it's a good thing. Romance is an element, albeit a small one. Read and Review, thank you! (I recommend having read/watched The Martian.) (Watney/Park, just so you know.) Alrighty! New Chapter on the way! (I promise!)
1. The Beginning

**_I own nothing, Andy Weir is the bomb, don't sue me._**

 **So, my first story of The Martian! Yay, I'm back to writing, and I like my idea. Please don't judge too harshly for mistakes. Or the pairing. ITS TECHNICALLY CANON. Sort of. Anyways feel free to criticize, and enjoy the story. We need to expand this fandom to around... Mars.**

It started as such a simple day. I left my modestly sized apartment, at some godforsaken time around two in the morning. I got into my car, drove to the NASA building, or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. What a long name, I mused tiredly.

I navigated the veritable labyrinth of hallways with relative ease. Sort of. _Left, right, left, straight- wait, no, go left, now straight, and right._ I trudged into SatCon, sat down and sipped my coffee, bathing in the silence of the empty room. I tiredly scanned the room, waiting for the computer in front of me to load up my email. It was normal. A simple, standard procedure. In hindsight, it was comforting.

"A Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I'm working in an all-night photo booth." I grumbled to myself. Life isn't very nice. I felt an odd urge to flip off the planet. The Intranet browser launched, and I pulled up the SatCon email.

"Venkat Kapoor?" I mumbled into my half empty coffee cup. Why was the Director of Mars Missions emailing me? Well, not me, he sent it to the SatCon email. But since I'm the only one here, it's the same thing. I shrugged.

It's too early for responsibility, some small part of my brain chimed in. I ruthlessly pressed it down and clicked open the message. All part of the job. My eyes widened, or at least as much as they could while trying to remain shut.

"31.2°N, 28.5°W... Acidalia Planitia... Ares 3?" I quietly hummed, my cursor hovering over the attachments. I thought we weren't supposed to photograph the site, in case we found Mark Watney's body. Curiosity won out, pressing my finger down, I watched as the first of 17 images filled my screen. It was, in fact, the Ares 3 site. Not a real shocker there. The message _did_ say to check for surviving elements.

I felt a touch of guilt as I scanned the image for Mark Watney's dead body. Just a touch, though, considering I found nothing but a broken radio dish and red sand. Next image.

"Hab intact." I droned boredly. I brought the coffee to my lips. It's a good thing I didn't drink, I would've choked. I grabbed my cell phone.

"Hey, this is Mindy Park at SatCon. I need the mission logs for Ares 3, where can I get 'em?" Several half-hearted _'mhm'_ s later, I hung up, quickly pulling up the intranet. My eyes raced across the screen, ignoring the strands of hair falling in my face. Then I leaned back in my seat, my heart beating loudly in my ears.

"Uhhh..." I mumbled, eyes latched on to the screen as I picked my phone back up and quickly dialed a number in. I waited silently for the phone to pick up.

"Um, yes, I need the emergency contact number for Venkat Kapoor. Okay, thank you."

* * *

Venkat Kapoor was a dark-skinned, charismatic man, the Mars Mission Director.

 _And also, very, very intimidating_ I fidgeted in my seat. It was now 3:45 AM. I'm going to assume from the scowl that he didn't get a lot of sleep. He was in a T-shirt and shorts, for Pete's sake. He shouldn't be this scary. Though, I suppose he's what, seven levels higher than I am? So this is my boss.

"You Mindy Park?" He asked. I jumped slightly. I tried my best not to quiver.

"Um, yes, uh, sir." I winced, forcing the tension in my shoulders to ease.

"I'm going to assume you have a great reason for me being here?" His eyebrow raised expectantly. I forced myself to look up.

"Um. It's the pictures you sent, you see..." I trailed off, my sneakers looking very interesting. I couldn't just blurt out that I thought Mark Watney was still alive. Especially not in front of a director. They'd think I was insane.

"I think you should just look at the pictures." I didn't stutter. Good job, me.

He grunted, pulling up a chair behind me. I brought the images up on screen. Looking back at them only confirmed my theory. My eyes stung.

"The Hab is in good shape, that's good. Rovers are okay and so are the solar farms. I sure hope this isn't the emergency." He said. I could feel the skepticism. I pointed at two white circles on the screen.

"Uh, those are." My finger was shaking. Despite my best efforts, my fear was shining through. "The emergency, I mean."

"Huh." Venkat peered at the screen. "Looks like the Hab didn't do as well as I thought." He said, looking at the white canvas..

"Those look like Rover pop-tents." I interjected.

"Probably right." He agreed.

"How'd they get set up?" I asked, rhetorically. I already knew. Venkat shrugged.

"Commander Lewis probably set them up in case the MAV abort failed." He offered.

Tears began to blur my sight.

"I checked the mission files from Sols one through six."

"So?"

"I read through it, several times. They never deployed the pop-tents." Voice cracking, I was fixed on the screen, a focal point to keep me together. My throat hurt from fighting back sobs. Kapoor looked decidedly uncomfortable, and he didn't even know I was nearly crying.

"They obviously did, they must not have logged it." He was grasping at straws now.

"They activated two emergency pop-tents and never told anyone?" It was hard to be sarcastic while trying not to cry.

"Hmm, that doesn't make sense. Maybe the storm messed with the Rovers and they auto-deployed?"

"So, after they auto-deployed, they detached themselves and lined up next to each other twenty meters away?"

Venkat frowned. "Something had to have happened to activate them." He insisted.

"Why are the solar panels clean?" My throat burned. "There was a huge sandstorm. Why aren't they covered in dust?"

"The wind?" He offered, unsure. Tears threatened to slip down my face.

"Did I mention I never found the body of Mark Watney?"

Venkat's eyes widened as he stared at the picture. "Oh god." He finally realized what happened. We left him on Mars.

The dam broke. My nails dug into my palms. Tears spread down my cheeks, and breathless sobs slipped through my clenched teeth.

Mark Watney was alive.

 **A short first chapter, for... uh, development. Yes. Stay tuned, I'll probably pump these out pretty frequently if people like it! Review, follow(there's more to come.) and it's not just canon, just you wait. More development to come.**


	2. I Really Hate Public Speaking

**The second chapter of Mindy Park, Space Paparazzi. The story's gotten a great response, and it gives me the warm and fuzzies. It also helps my writing. Remember that! Anyways, a little insight, and we stray a bit from canon (Yay!) Enjoy!**

We had a game plan now. Or, I did, sort of. The last three and a half weeks have been chaotic, to say the least. I had to meet with the Director of NASA, the Flight Mission Director, and the PR Director.

All of them are scary.

They all wanted to see who found Mark Watney. Boy, were they surprised to see me, a nobody from SatCon. Venkat is the most laid-back, but he won't stop checking in on me. I mean it. He's stopped by every day for the last week. Ugh.

On the Watney front, nothing exciting happened for a solid week. Lucky for me, he started working on Rover 2 a few days ago, stacking batteries and solar panels all over the place. But other than that, it's been boring. I thought about wearing my pajamas to work, but I didn't want to be called to a board meeting wearing Batman footie pajamas. It probably wasn't a good idea.

So here I am, holding my coffee like a newborn, and glaring at the bright screen in front of me. It's Sol 78 today. I'm on constant Watney Watch. He's been driving and modifying a several billion dollar rover, and dismantling another.

Lucky.

I'm a mechanical engineer, too! Not just a sleep-deprived nerd. Really! If he wasn't stranded on Mars, I'd be all for trading spots with him. Oh well.

It's like... I don't even know what time it is. 5:43 AM apparently. Mark's been working on the Rover for a few hours now. Last night he made a trip away from the Hab.

And oh boy, guess what he did.

He picked up the RTG. Of all the things to play around with, he chooses a nuclear generator. I'm not sure if I want to cry or laugh. I mean, sure, it's safe, and sealed, but it's still a radioactive isotope! If it breaks we'll have to name a crater after him.

He's using it for heat, (and probably power. It _is_ a generator after all) so he doesn't use more power. He started moving a while ago, and he's not turning around. I leaned in and squinted at the screen. Yep, he was moving, probably around thirty kilometers away from the Hab, right now.

"He really tore into Rover one, huh?" _Holy shit._ Somewhere along the line Venkat appeared behind me. I jumped, just barely landing in my seat. He's lucky I didn't throw my coffee at him.

"Y-yeah, he did." I stuttered. The higher-ups still scared me, despite the constant meetings with the directors. It didn't help that he startled me, either.

Rover 1 was a shell of its former self. Watney plundered it for all it had, just like the MAV. I don't even want to know what he did with the Hydrazine. I shook that thought out of my head. It just ended with explosions.

"What has he done so far?" Another status check. The third one today.

"Not much, just working on Rover 2, really. He's on the move though." I answered. Sometimes Mark is exciting, sometimes he's not. I just hope he was working on communications.

I sure was.

I studied the satellites in my spare time, which was admittedly, a lot. You'd think they'd teach us about the satellites we're using, but they don't. Or maybe it's just because I'm not very high up on the hierarchy. I learned the receiving and transmitting types and frequencies, as well as the range.

I was technically a satellite operator now, since Director Sanders gave me full control over them.

I have control over everything from Odyssey to the MRO and some of the most advanced satellites in the solar system. It was pretty cool. I could transmit and receive from anywhere on Mars. But there was one, teeny, tiny, little problem.

There were no receivers.

The Hab didn't have any comms. All of them blew away on Sol 6. And the Rovers only had short range comms, to talk to the Hab. The MAV had long range communications, but that's gone too.

So in short, we were fucked.

But there was a way to talk to him. A very small chance. Minuscule. Improbable, but still a chance. It's pure guess work really, but there are several computers in the Hab that are full of information, which he's probably gone through. He would need to find one of the Martian Landers, one with a communication system.

Preferably, Pathfinder, located at 19.33N, 33.55W. That's only a 3 degree difference both North and South from where he currently is. It was several hundred kilometers, though. It took me three weeks to figure out the Pathfinder problem.

Mark Watney is smart. Disturbingly so. Pathfinder dropped off the roster after it went offline in 1997. I bet it's still covered in sand. And hopefully, intact.

But if he goes where we hope he's trying to go, we'll be able to talk to him. Somehow. I've been working on a code with the technology department, since I came up with the concept. I was kind of like the designer, you could say, even if I didn't do much but drink coffee. Coding is boring, by the way.

What the code does, in short, is override the Rover's systems and update them, allowing Pathfinder to talk to it and vice versa. Now all we need is for him to find it. If I believed in God I would start praying.

"What are you thinking, Park?" Venkat's voice shook me out of my thoughts.

"I think Watney is going to Pathfinder. I hope."At his impatient stare, I continued.

"Mark Watney is probably the smartest person in Ares 3, if only by how resourceful he is. He has a map, and a good deal of information on the personal computers, too, so, Pathfinder it is. It's logical." Venkat sighed.

"How's this gonna work? Even if he finds it, he still has to haul it back to the Hab, fix it, and try to talk to us." I smirked at the director.

"Watney's no slouch. Engineers are remarkably good at fixing things, Mister Kapoor." He snorted.

"Smart ass." I don't know if that's good, but I smiled anyways. More images filtered onto the screen. Every few minutes I got an update. Watney was making pretty good time, considering he can only go twenty-five kilometers per hour. That could be a land speed record, actually. I'd need to check the record books

I scrutinized the images more, comparing them and trying to guess where he's going. I was officially stalking Mark Watney. Put that on my resume.

He was headed straight for Pathfinder. And they say blondes aren't smart. Venkat decided to rain on my parade. I should've seen it coming.

"Mindy, are you ready for the press conference tomorrow?" _The what?!_

"The what?!" I repeated my thoughts out loud. Venkat drove his face into his hand and shook his head.

"The press conference. You're in it." He stated. I felt my mouth drop in astonishment. And maybe a little bit of horror.

"You're joking." I was desperate. I've been to meetings, sure, but that's just with NASA. This will be broadcasted over the entire world.

"Don't stress out, Park. It'll be fine. You probably won't even have to say much." I sure hope so.

* * *

After a restless night in my apartment, I was dressed in my best, a midnight-blue suit-dress. It had a white collar that accentuated the blue in my eyes. It looked nice and business-like, not that it helped my anxiety any.

Beside me sat Annie Montrose, the Public Relations Director. She was an intimidating and vulgar woman at the best of times. I'm not sure why she's the PR Director. Further down the table sat Teddy Sanders, the Director of NASA. To his right was Venkat, who gave me a little wave. I smiled back.

I didn't like all the attention I was getting. I was the new girl at the table. Cameras clicked, people stared. The room was a dull roar of conversation. It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I've never been in front of this many people. I don't know if I can do this.

"Mindy, tell me about your plan to get Watney on communications." It was Annie.

"What?"

"How are you going to talk to him?" She demanded. It looked like she was trying to help, in her own, coarse way. _Thank you!_ Huh, maybe she's not too bad.

"Well, first, Mark needs to make it to Pathfinder and back." The PR director nodded, lips pursed. "I think he'll be able to. He should be able to get Pathfinder up and running in a week."

"Really?" Annie's brows rose. She was actually impressed! I nodded slightly, the tension fading.

"Yeah, and from there it's talking to him with a swivel camera until we can find a way to tell him about the code we made." Annie smirked, and turned back to the front of the room.

"Now tell them that, it's show time." _Shit._

I saw the cameras, and nearly fainted. Oh no. I didn't even know what we were going to talk about! We found him a while ago, and not much has happened since. Oh no. If they ask about him, I know the most. I'm the person they'll ask.

The words _'You probably won't even have to say much.'_ came to mind.

 _Venkat, you are a liar and I_ _will_ _find where you sleep._

I tried to direct my thoughts at him in a glare, but alas, it failed. The Director called for silence and began his announcement. I had trouble staying focused. I was too busy ignoring the fact that a bunch of reporters were recording everything we said.

A good half an hour passed during my little daydream. The Director's tone snapped me out of it.

"And now for the questions. Are there any?" Of course there are. They're reporters, this is their job.

"Director Sanders!" One of the reporters called out. "Who is the new member of the board?" I really hope he doesn't mean me.

"Mindy Park. She found Mark Watney, and is now tasked with keeping track of him and communicating with him." Thanks, Teddy. Way to put the pressure on me. I felt myself start to panic and suddenly, I'm very happy we were sitting.

"Miss Park!" A new reporter called out. This time it was directed at me. Oh no. "How do you plan on making contact with Mister Watney?" I took a deep breath, and put on my business face, leaning into the microphone. I'm ready for this. I've been practicing in the mirror.

"At the moment, Mark is travelling towards the site of Pathfinder." So far, flawless. "From then, we assume he will take the lander and rover back to the Habitation Module, and try to communicate with us. We'll need to collect everyone who's worked on it, since it was lost in 1997." The reporters listened intently; the sound of cameras clicking was the only noise.

"Mark Watney is a very competent mechanical engineer. We think he will be able to fix Pathfinder and from there, it will be a game of charades. The only moving part on Pathfinder is the camera. So, we will be forced to use very simple terms and commands to talk. Mark will be leading the conversation. And it will be very, very slow." I took a breath, clenching my hands in my lap.

"Our commands take around thirty minutes to get to Mars, so we hope Watney will be patient and cooperate, until we can send him the code to use Pathfinder as a conduit to Rover 2, where he will be able to write messages and receive them. It's just a matter of time until he talks to the world." The room was hushed. I swear my heart stopped.

And then the noise came. Cameras flashed so much I felt like I was under a strobe light, and reporters were nearly yelling at us, asking for more. I'm very happy I did my makeup today. It covered the bags under my eyes.

I was exhausted. I let out a shaky breath, attempting to make all of my stress leave with it. Annie turned to me.

"Jeez, Park, with that kind of talking, I'd think you're trying to steal my job." She drawled. It made me feel a little better. "I guess you're officially part of the clique."

"The clique?" Annie nodded. I didn't like the smirk on her face. Not a lot of people do, it means bad things.

"Yep. Apparently you're important to them," She gestured to the gathered crowd. "Now you're going to be involved in more and more meetings, considering you're officially the Lead Satellite Controller." I turned the name card around.

 _Mindy Park,_ _Lead_ _Satellite Technician_

That's a bit of a stretch. It sounds good, though.

"Don't think this takes you off of full time Watney Watch, though."

"I wouldn't dream of it." I quipped. "Speaking of, I need to get back to SatCon." I stood to leave, looked around, and then sat back down. A veritable sea of people blocked my way.

"How on Earth do I get through all these reporters?" Annie scoffed, grabbed my arm, and suddenly we were on the other side of the room, near the exit, Annie having weaved through the crowd like thread through a needle. _Did we just teleport?_ Annie just gave her patented smirk.

"Change your clothes, Park. A dress like that shouldn't be worn around casually." Annie barked. I just nodded, still dumbstruck. The PR Goddess dove back into the crowd.

I walked into the parking lot, doing my best not to fall on my face from the four-inch heels I was wearing. I barely made it, catching myself on the side of my car. I drove quickly, trying to avoid the traffic

Houston traffic was hell. Unadulterated hell.

My keys were in my hand as soon as I stepped out of the car. I really, really want to sleep. It was going to be a few days until Mark retrieved Pathfinder, and even longer to talk to him.

That was something I was really excited about. Meeting 'The Martian' would definitely be something I'd write home about. I may have saved someone's life. Maybe this job wasn't so bad.

I decided not to head back to SatCon. I think Watney'll be okay without me for a little while. Right now, I need sleep, and lots of it.

Come here, bed.

 **Hey, all. I thought this chapter was a good bit of insight on Mindy's early performance, being thrust into the hierarchy, and being able to do her thing. Read, Review, Criticize (but not too harshly!), and I'll talk to you all next chapter!**


	3. Preparations

**So, Chapter Three! Woo. I'm kinda iffy on this chapter, but it's mostly just because it's filler, and a little bit of Get to Know Mindy. I didn't feel right just hopping to the communications. Anyways, read, review, all that jazz. The positive response is really great.**

He found Pathfinder, that beautiful genius. I chose to ignore that I thought particular thought. I shuffled around my apartment in my pajamas. I was given the day off, after the decision to inform Ares III about Mark surviving was vetoed. I don't agree with the decision, not even a little bit. If I knew him as well as they did, I'd be furious! But, I feel like I know him a little better, now. Sometimes he dances on his EVAs.

Nothing tells you about a guy like seeing what he does when he's alone on an entire planet. I giggled at the memory, stirring the coffee in my hand. It was eight in the morning, and I just woke up. It was rare to see sunlight first thing in the morning. I stared at the sky through the small window in the kitchen.

Clouds drifted through the air. Contrails bridged the sky, slowly slipping off the horizon, lead by the planes that created them. I wonder if Mark could see us from Mars. I've logged onto the satellites from home, just watching the red planet turn, framed by the darkness of space. I turned the MRO to face Earth, once. It was just a cerulean dot in an abyss of stars. I only did it once.

It made me feel alone. Maybe that's why I feel a little bit closer to Watney. I tilted my cup to take a drink. It was empty. I didn't usually get days off. The time for reflection was harrowing. We were less than a day from talking to him. We were so close; I couldn't stop thinking about it. What was he going to say?

What were _we_ going to say? _Hey, sorry we left you on Mars, but lucky you, we accidentally found you because we wanted more funding for Ares Six!_ I had the distinct feeling that wouldn't go smoothly. I was tempted to ask Venkat to let me talk to him, because we could relate more, being the lowest ranked of our peers. Also, I was less of an ass in my opinion. Thinking of the Directors of NASA as my peers is unnerving.

On the other hand, I kind of wanted to see Venkat get yelled at by a Martian botanist. In a day, Watney would be back at the Hab, and we'd be able to talk to him. Before that, though, we needed to use the replica of Pathfinder so we actually knew what we were doing.

A lot of times, we don't have a clue.

So, in just a few hours here I'd be surrounded by a bunch of guys who haven't showered in days. _Just like high school_ , I mused. And there I'd be messy bun, glasses, with bags under my eyes. _A little bit too much like high school, actually._ I shook my head. I lived through that once, I'd rather not do it again.

I decided to go for a walk, to clear my mind. I think the landlord actually stuck his head out of the door, seeing me leave my apartment during the day. I ignored him, and everyone else that walked by. I walked, looking down at my battered, black sneakers and my grey sweatpants. I wore a Captain America T-shirt beneath an unzipped hoodie. It's a lazy day; I can wear what I want.

I chose to sit in the park beside Williams Tower, watching the sky through its glassy surface, the clouds distorting as they passed over the edges of the building. It was a beautiful day outside. The grass tickled the skin of my wrists, and the wind blew gently, rustling the red-stained trees. I wonder if Mark sightsees on Mars.

 _Why do I keep thinking about him?_ I didn't have an answer to that at the moment, so I turned back to the sky and watched the clouds soar by, imagining random shapes.

My eyes glazed over, calm washing over me for the first time in weeks. I savored the feeling for as long as I could, but eventually I had to move. I got up, brushing the grass off of my pants and began the short walk back to my apartment. As I walked, I thought about how far I'd had to go to get to the JPL labs, and how far I had to go to get to the D.C Headquarters. _I wonder if I should move._ I hummed quietly, shoving my hands in my pockets.

The wind blew; the air was getting cold, with winter already here. I zipped up my hoodie and crossed the street, into my apartment complex. _Oh shit_. I still had to pack, and we were leaving for JPL tonight!

I quickly opened the door, skidding into my apartment. I yanked my suitcase out of the closet, and shot into my room. I have two hours until my flight leaves. _How could I forget about this?_ I screamed at myself.

Focus, Mindy, I have time. I don't even need to pack that much, I remind myself as I _gently_ shove a pair of jeans into the bag. I pause. What if I need to stay longer than I expected? I mean, if we contact Watney, we won't stop talking to him after one day. I groaned, pulling more clothes from my dresser, quickly "folding" them and throwing them into the suitcase.

I jogged into the bathroom, getting in the shower. It's probably my last, until we have stable communication with Mark. I stand in the shower, letting my body relax under the warm water. I need to have a cool head about this. I can't just run into JPL looking like a mad-woman. I have my dignity to uphold! Sort of, it's mostly NASA's dignity, but that's still important, I guess. I _do_ work there, after all.

I stepped out of the shower, taking the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with me. I grabbed some more toiletries on my way out; toothbrush, toothpaste, tampons, hairclips, etcetera. I tossed them all in my suitcase, once again looting my dresser, coming out with a charcoal sweater vest, a white dress shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans. After a second of thought, I put back the skinny jeans, instead pulling out an indigo dress-skirt.

Comfort was the key, here. I was going to be working with Pathfinder for a few days. I checked the alarm clock on my nightstand. I've only spent thirty minutes packing. Nice! My NASA Satellite Technician Lanyard should get me through security in a 'jiffy', according to Henderson, word for word. Really, I promise. I'm not that old! My phone rang, and I slid into the kitchen, skidding on my Alien socks, snatching it off the counter as I glided past.

"Mindy Park, how may I help you?" I asked, leaning back against the wall to catch my breath. Venkat's voice came through a moment later.

"Hi, Mindy, I'm on the way. Our jet will be in Houston in an hour, so get ready. JPL doesn't want to get crunched for time." He paused. "Again." The Director amended.

"Our jet?" I asked. My flight wasn't supposed to leave until one. Venkat's laughter spilled out of the speaker. No one told me about any jets. A small pout spread across my lips.

"Didn't anyone tell you NASA has a business jet for emergencies?" I cocked my head in confusion. I kind of just thought we flew on normal planes. Kind of like what people with a fixed budget do. But, whatever, I'm not going to argue.

"O-okay." I stuttered. Darn it. "I'll be there." I looked around my apartment, making sure all of the windows were locked, and the lights were off.

"Good to hear. See you then." With a click, the phone hung up. I pushed it into my back pocket, grabbing my suitcase, and after a second thought, the bag with my laptop and tablet. I stopped at the door, grabbing my keys and slipping on my sneakers before zipping down the hallway. I haven't been rushed like this since university.

I hopped in my car, an old 2020 Volkswagen Beetle. We still don't have flying cars. Damn you, deceptive comic books. It was a short drive to the airport. I tried my best not to shove people aside as I ran inside. It didn't help that I wasn't exactly large. I mean, I was pretty tall (Five feet, ten inches), but not very big. Security just gave me a cursory glance, nodding at the lanyard bouncing around my neck. Mitch was right, thankfully.

 _Go right, and keep going until you get to the light rail. It will take you to the VIP building, where our jet is. We'd just get a normal spot, but the jet's too short._ I read Venkat's text, and waved over a cart driver, asking him to drive me to the light rail. The cart buzzed towards the station.

"What's the hurry, late for your flight?" The older man, who looked somewhere around seventy, asked. I shook my head.

"No, I'm trying to save an astronaut's life." I shrugged. I may as well be honest. His eyes widened marginally.

"Good on you, Miss. It wouldn't happen to be that Mark Watney fellow would it?" I nodded at him. "Jesus, girl, you've got your work cut out for you." He pursed his lips, whistling lowly. The cart stopped. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Here's your stop. Good luck, Miss." He waved at me as he turned the cart around.

"Thank you!" I waved back, jogging onto the small train. It pulled away from the station. I barely noticed that I grabbed onto one of the poles in the middle to keep balanced. My mind was racing in excitement. Here we go.

My boss emailed me. Mark had uncovered Pathfinder a few days ago, and was back at the Hab. It looked like he was trying to find out how to get the lander off the rover without breaking anything. Maybe the Rover ran out of charge? Either way, it's good, it'll get us some time.

I leapt off of the tram, running down to the terminal where our jet was parked. A glance out of the plate glass windows made me sigh. A Citation X, NASA? I shrugged. Not my problem. It was fast. It flew. Good enough for me. I hurried down the gateway, stopping when I got inside the aircraft.

I scanned the jet, looking for Venkat.

"Back here, Mindy." I swiveled, spotting him relaxing in one of the leather seats.

"This seems a little... excessive." I told him, even if the plane was bare, for a private jet. He shrugged, typing away on the tablet in his hand. The jet engines began to spool up. I buckled my seatbelt.

"It's one of the fastest private jets in the world. In case of emergencies, you know?" He shrugged. I took a seat across from him. "I'm actually surprised you're here." Venkat stated. I looked up and raised my eyebrow. The jet pulled onto the taxiway.

"Annie told me to get to JPL as fast as possible." I pulled a laptop out of my carry-on bag. "By the way, someone's got to pay me back for the ticket I bought." The Director snorted.

"Sure, I'll get right on that." He gave a barely noticeable smirk. _He is an ass,_ I confirmed mentally. I leaned back, the plane rocketing down the runway and into the sky

"We're sure in a hurry, huh?" I muttered to myself. I logged into the SatCon systems, to check on Mark. Pathfinder was still on the back of the Rover, and every few minutes I got to see Watney plop down in frustration. I can't blame him. It took a while to recharge the batteries, according to JPL. I shrugged, looking out at the passing landscape.

* * *

The two and a half hours passed quickly, watching Mark work out Pathfinder's issues. I frowned worriedly. Watney was making progress. He had Pathfinder in position, yet seemed to be puzzling over how to start it. We had to get to JPL immediately. For another hour and a half, I bounced in my seat impatiently. I hit my head on the ceiling, and stopped, much to Venkat's relief. Until I started bouncing my foot, earning me a withering glare. I didn't really take well to sitting still. Why was I working in SatCon then? I didn't have time to ponder this, the jet pulled up to the terminal. Venkat and I ran to the car outside of the airport, getting to the Jet Propulsion Lab in less than twenty minutes.

"Mindy, Mindy, slow down!" Venkat said. I forced myself to take a breath. "He won't be able to talk to us for at least another hour."

"Okay." I exhaled. "Okay, I'm good." And just in time, too, because Bruce Ng, the Head of JPL, came to greet us at the doors.

"Venkat, it's good to see you." He shook the Director's hand. These two were pretty good friends, it seems. Bruce turned to me, extending a hand.

"Mindy Park, Lead Satellite Technician." I shook his hand with a smile. He returned it with his own, before his face became serious.

"Alright, let's get going." He muttered, setting off at a brisk walk. We boarded one of the golf carts, driving to the storage warehouse where Pathfinder was stored. I watched the sky. It was dark and grey. Hopefully it's not an omen. I shook my head. I worked for one of the largest scientific organizations in the world. I couldn't let myself be paranoid.

We stepped off, heading into the warehouse. A man on a forklift greeted Venkat as we passed by. He was rather popular, being the Mission Director and all.

"What are the chances Watney can get it working again?" The Mission Director asked Bruce. He shrugged noncommittally.

"Hard to say, we lost contact in '97." Thirty-eight years. That was older than I was. "It was probably battery failure, though it lasted three times as long as we expected."

"Bruce, we're not insulting JPL's work, they've done perfectly fine." I assured the man. "We just need everyone who worked on Pathfinder here, ASAP." Bruce nodded hurriedly. He seemed exhausted, poor guy.

"They're already here." He said as we quickly made our way over to a group of men surrounding a plastic covered structure.

"Guys, this is Venkat Kapoor, Director of Mars Missions, and Mindy Park, Lead Satellite Technician." They looked puzzled, even while shaking Venkat's hand.

"I also have a Masters in mechanical engineering." I added. They all made a noise of assent, and shook my hand as well. I grinned triumphantly.

"Is this the replica?" Venkat inquired.

"Yes sir." They moved to pull off the thick sheet without any hesitation. It looks like they're as ready as we are. The sheet fell off, and I had to bite my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping. Even built in '96, it still looked straight out of the future. But maybe that's just because it's the first spacecraft I've seen up close.

Either way, we had work to do. Not a lot, yet, but we still had a ways to go until we were ready. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and we set to work.

We brought the lander inside the workstation; a dimly lit area with an array of computers, connecting the replica Pathfinder to several different monitors. The room brightened considerably when a small spotlight was pointed at the lander. Several technicians, and myself have been working on it for forty-five minutes. Now we wait.

I hated waiting.

 **And Mindy's in the fray! I never understood why her mechanical engineering degree was never put to use in the book and movie. I feel pretty good about this chapter. If you review and favorite, it's really neat. See ya next chapter! (Fixed minor mishap with the timeline)**


	4. First Contact

**_Sorry for being horribly late on this... I got distracted. That's all I can say, really. Danganronpa is very fun to write about. But here we are, back again with Mindy Park, Space Paparazzi! So, here ya go!_**

We're less than an hour away from talking to Mark. Minutes. Seconds. It's started to blur together, and my eyes are fighting to stay open.

Waiting for Mark's signal to transmit was both exhilarating and exhausting. The signal took thirty minutes to transmit because of distance, and that's not counting how old Pathfinder is. Thirty-eight years, are you kidding me!?

The rest of the team wasn't much better off. I can feel the fear and impatience saturating the air. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting. _It'll be well worth it._ I had to remind myself that fact several times. I scanned the room, leaning back against one of the support pillars, the cool concrete a massive relief against my back.

My hair was tied into a bun, sort of. I just grabbed as much hair as I could and shoved it through a binder. I leveled a glare at Pathfinder. You made me this way, you damn robot. Another part of my mind argued that it was because I was so concerned over Watney's welfare. I subsequently crushed it into the back of my mind. So not the time. I continued to glower at the lander.

 _Work, damn you! Come on!_ I thought darkly, my stare unwavering. Pathfinder didn't move. I looked at the satellite images. Absolutely nothing. I groaned quietly. He had gone inside a few minutes ago, and we were all impatient.

Well, impatient was the wrong word. It was more like terrified. If he didn't get Pathfinder to work, all of this was for _nothing._ He would slowly waste away on a desolate planet, alone. My eyes stung at the thought.

A whirring noise from the lander brought me back to the present. Pathfinder was moving. My shout of excitement brought everyone back to their senses, sprinting to their respective computers. I leapt to the air, nearly bowling over another engineer. I didn't have time to say sorry, though.

"Hey, hey, look at this." Tim, one of the computer engineers said. I jumped around the desk, watching a pile of images sorting themselves out. Slowly, agonizingly so, it formed into a rough square.

"Do you read me? Yes/No." It read. I could've cried. He did it.

"Turn towards 'yes'!" I shouted, crushing down a bout of hysterical giggling. The technician seemed ready to argue with me, or say something sarcastic, but he just nodded fearfully when I leveled a piercing, disdain-filled glare. I walked back to my spot by the wall.

I deflated, slumping against the wall with a satisfied smile on my face. I don't know if there is a God out there, but if there is, he's on our side; for now at least. My smile faltered at the thought, but I distracted myself, pulling up the Satellite feed. I started giggling. A few of my coworkers edged away from me (read: sprinted away). I didn't mind.

Mark Watney, the Martian, the most famous man in the entire world, was dancing on the face of the fourth planet from the Sun, again. I let out an undignified snort. Was there ever going to be a day where he didn't amuse me? I think not! I mentally crowed, kicking my legs excitedly. I looked like a child, but honestly, I could care less. This was too exciting to stay still.

And to think, three months ago I would've been nursing a cup of coffee and staring at blurry images of who-knows-what. I have to say, this is better. The lander started to move, and I kicked off the floor, practically skipping to the computer. After a few moments, another image appeared on the screen.

"The hell is he doing?" I heard Venkat mutter from somewhere behind me. For once, I didn't have an answer. Lucky for us, the computer engineer, Tim, did. I'm not sure why, but apparently computer intelligence equated to lack of people skills. I shrugged carelessly, I wasn't entirely surprised. It was me during high school, after all.

"He's setting up a hexadecimal alphabet." My eyes widened. Why on Earth... or, Mars, was Watney the lowest ranked? He was smarter than I was. Maybe. He had the Devil's luck, that's for sure. I could use some of that.

"Okay, you heard him! Set it up!" I barked, spurring the engineers into action. Venkat eyed me approvingly. He probably shouldn't. I'm probably going to steal his job, at this rate.

"Does this make you the Director of all things Mark Watney?" He smirked at me. Honestly, I probably was at this point, considering all the effort I put into the man.

"I guess so, Mister Kapoor. I guess this means I'm in charge." I batted my eyelashes at him, and sauntered over to Pathfinder. Venkat was left speechless. "You're too easy, Venkat. This is why Annie is in charge of Public Relations!" I called out, ignoring the colorful speech that he threw my way. Too easy.

I began to help set up the hexadecimals. I'd never used them, personally. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't that great with computers, I'd totally forgotten after high school. I just knew how to do things. Mindy things. My things were satellites. _Maybe I should build them_ ; I tapped my chin thoughtfully, pondering the idea. I didn't give it much thought, forcing myself back into the real world.

The hexadecimals were fairly easy to set up, but that left us with a lot of time to figure out what we were going to say, theoretically. The problem with that was, we didn't actually have a lot of time. Mark had gone to bed several hours before, leaving us here, in a warehouse, to sleep, and figure out what we were going to say, and how we were going to transfer the code to him, so we could talk normally, which would take a very long time.

I snorted humorlessly.

Normally was a little bit of a stretch, considering the several hundred million mile distance. But that's all semantics; boring stuff. I didn't want to be bored doing my job. Again, I stared at the slowly dropping engineers curiously. Oh, that's right. We haven't slept since... I'm not entirely sure, actually. I gave the satellites one final once-over before I began to doze off myself.

 _I was back in SatCon, thankfully looking at a different planet than Mars. Saturn loomed in front of the camera, a silent behemoth of gas and stone. I knew, that underneath the peaceful top layer, was a world unlivable to nearly anything. Harsh and cold._ Rather poetic _, I thought. I stood from my desk, not bothering to notice that I was the only person here. I stepped into the hall, only to be met head-on by someone's face. I bounced off, clutching my forehead as the stranger did the same._

 _"Mindy?" I looked up, focusing on the face and it all suddenly faded away._

"Mindy?" I scrunched my face, protesting at the light filling my eyes. What a weird dream. Venkat shook me awake. It was time to send Watney a message. I watched with bleary eyes as the camera on top of Pathfinder swiveled around to point at various letters.

"Whassit sayin'?" I slurred tiredly, yawning. I reached up on top of my head, feeling a plume of white-blonde hair. I suppressed a groan. No one else looked too hot, either. It didn't make me feel much better though.

"It says 'how are you alive?'. Or, 'how alive?' to be precise." Venkat informed me. I checked my phone. It was early in the morning, here, and on Mars. I hope he's awake. I continued to stare at Pathfinder, using it as a focal point to try to keep myself conscious.

"It'll take him a while to decipher it, Mindy. Why don't you get some more sleep? You worked yourself pretty hard yesterday." I stared at him, glassy-eyed, before I nodded. I slumped back to the floor, padded by cardboard. It didn't take long to fall asleep again. I woke up again, half an hour later, to Venkat shaking me.

"Mindy, come on, he responded!" He said. Venkat paused, hearing a quiet shuffling, and turned around, where I was already at the computer, a wide, sleepy smile on my face. I surreptitiously wiped the drool off of my cheek, focusing on the words on screen.

 _"I'm okay. Impaled by antenna, destroyed my biomonitor. Crew was right in leaving. Not their fault."_ My smiled was tinged by sadness. Poor guy. He had so much to worry about. Too bad we were just giving him more.

"Send him the code." Venkat said. Tim nodded, making Pathfinder's camera spin in nearly random patterns. I _really_ hoped Mark was awake. This didn't seem easy to read; but then again, it turned really slow. I shrugged, and fidgeted impatiently. This was nearly too much excitement for me. My smile didn't waver.

"We're so close!" I said to Venkat. He gave a tired nod, nearly stumbling over his feet. I helped him to the floor.

"Hey, uh, Mindy." I looked down curiously at him. "Since you're the Director of Mark, you get to talk to him." He spoke drearily, and I wished that he wasn't serious. He was, and I couldn't argue with him because he slumped over onto his side, sleeping the sleep of the just.

"Damn it." I fumed, stomping past the now asleep Venkat. "I'm barely awake myself and he makes me talk to the guy, on a nationally broadcasted channel." I pouted childishly for a few minutes. We still had to wait for Mark to install the code anyways, so I had a few minutes to think. I'd need to be familiar, yet formal at the same time; I couldn't let him think he was talking to a robot or, god forbid, Sanders. I hate you with a fiery passion, Venkat, so much. My small mental tirade of hatred was cut short by none other than Mark Watney himself. Communications were online; it was show time. I pulled up to the desk, hands shaky as I began to type in my first sentence.

 _Mark, this is Mindy Park. We've been watching you since Sol 54. It sounds very creepy but believe me, it's not. We're all rooting for you, especially me. From one mechanical engineer to another; you've done a great job. Rescue plans are still on the drawing board, but we should have something concrete soon. In the meantime, we're going to essentially throw a spaceship full of food at you. A little gift from NASA, you could say."_ I snorted at my own statement, Bruce echoing my sentiments. Now we wait. I tapped my finger on the desk impatiently.

" _Glad to hear it, looking forward to not dying."_ I rolled my eyes; even stuck on a desolate planet, the man was still a smartass. The next message sent me reeling.

" _How's the crew? What was their reaction when they found out I was still alive?"_ Silence smothered the room in its oppressive weight. I threw my glasses onto the table, rubbing the heels of my hands into my eyes. Bruce left, taking the others with him so I could think about how to word this.

" _RU Receiving? –Mark."_ God-fucking-damn it, NASA. A bunch of cowards, the lot of you. I slammed my fist down in frustration, my discarded glasses jumping from the impact.

" _Against better judgment (My judgment), NASA has decided to not inform the crew of what happened in order to keep them focused on their mission."_ The waiting game began again, forcing my mind into a flurry of annoyance and sadness. How could they _not_ tell him!? This was horrifying.

" _They don't know I'm alive? What the ******* ******* *******!?"_ I scowled at the computer. Jackass, talking to a lady like that; it wasn't even my decision! We sent him to Mars, for God's sake, he should have some semblance of manners! I angrily punched in my response.

" _Watch your language, Watney! One, you're being broadcast live all over the world, and two: I am not the one who made this decision, but I AM the one who found your sorry ass, so have some respect. If we didn't know what we were doing, we wouldn't be doing it! Unless you want the Hermes crew to try and pull a U-turn in outer space, you need to trust us!"_ I slammed the enter key, and suddenly, the world-wide broadcast was turned off. I might have just made an ass out of myself in front of several billion people.

Woops.

Thankfully, Mark replied soon enough to save me from a cloud of self-hating embarrassment.

" _Uh, sorry Mindy. It's all just a very stressful situation, you know?"_ I knew. _"And the fact that my best friends don't even know I'm alive is kind of a punch in the face."_ Crap, now I felt bad. My fingers blurred as the keys clacked together, my message forming nearly instantly.

" _Yeah, I know. I'm trying to convince Sanders and Kapoor to let them know, but it's slow going. I've gone from lowly satellite watcher, to the primary Satellite Technician. It's kind of why we have satellites going over you every two minutes or so. Anyways, it's dark here, and probably freezing there, so get some sleep, Mark. Stay in touch."_

" _You too, Mindy."_

* * *

 _ **Fluffy ending, I know I know, but it's totally okay cause that's just how I roll. Seriousness with a little padding.**_


End file.
